Financial Power of Attorney

A financial power of attorney is a written document by which a principal gives to an agent (the attorney-in-fact) certain authority to act for the principal, the person signing the power of attorney. We have a longer explanation of financial power of attorney, and below are two options for creating your own Ohio statutory form financial power of attorney (FPOA).

Please note:

Due to an important change to Ohio’s Medicaid program effective August 1, 2016, all Ohio Financial Powers of Attorney (FPOA) should specifically allow the attorney-in-fact to create a Qualified Income Trust (QIT), also known as a Miller Trust, in order for the principal, the person creating the FPOA, to qualify, or to remain eligible, for Ohio’s Medicaid program. The vast majority of FPOAs do not include this provision because until now, there was no general need for it. But as of August 1st, everyone with monthly income above 300% of SSI, or $2,199 in 2016, will no longer qualify for Medicaid without a QIT. If the Medicaid applicant is incompetent to create her own QIT, then someone, such as the FPOA must have the authority to create one for her. Medicaid recipients in nursing homes, assisted living and those receiving Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), such as PASSPORT, are all affected. Don’t postpone updating your FPOA to include this provision – half of Ohio’s nursing home residents are on Medicaid.

Where it says, “Special Instructions (Optional)” (typically on page 4), suggested language to include in this area of Ohio’s Statutory Form Financial Power of Attorney is below. This will be followed by the handwritten initials of the person creating this Financial POA, know as the principal.

I grant my agent and any successor agent the power to create an irrevocable Qualified Income Trust, a.k.a. a Miller Trust, on my behalf for the purpose of allowing me to qualify for Medicaid benefits. [initials]

The link above goes to LawHelp Interactive website’s Ohio statutory form FPOA template. There you will be guided through an interview session consisting of a series of questions designed to obtain the answers necessary to complete your personalized FPOA.

The interview also contains helpful definitions and explanations. When finished, your information is merged into a final form that can be saved and printed. The final form also includes instructions for initialing and signing the document.